The Guiding Moral Theory

Fighting for software freedom means trying to build a world where every user has the unencumbered, inalienable right to copy, share, modify, redistribute, upgrade and improve all the software on which they rely.

The Final Goal

IMO, the final goal of the software freedom movement is to change the world so that all software available is Free Software, giving every users those key inalienable rights.

What is Copyleft?

Fundamentally, copyleft is a strategy, not a moral imperative onto itself.

We must never forget: the goal is software freedom.

Copyleft is simply a tool to help us get there.

Formal Definition of Copyleft

Copyleft is a strategy of utilizing copyright law to pursue the policy goal of fostering & encouraging the equal & inalienable right to copy, share, modify & improve creative works of authorship. Copyleft … describes any method that utilizes the copyright system to achieve the aforementioned goal. Copyleft as a concept is usually implemented in the details of a specific copyright license … Copyright holders of creative work can unilaterally implement these licenses for their own works to build communities that collaboratively share & improve those copylefted creative works.

Reusing the Strategy

We had, from 2003-2007, and now may again soon have a potential conflict between copyright requirements under GPL & FCC regulations.

In the USA, we can bring this issue to the forefront: ultimately, two federal laws/regulations (i.e., copyright & spectrum regulation) have a fundamental conflict.

So, why not ask the federal government to directly consider this conflict!

Bringing The Issue Forward

Ultimately, the NPRM dance with the FCC, while necessary, is only one approach to bring forward the issue.

Consider this other simple, parallel approach:

Bringing The Issue Forward

Bring a product before the FCC that needs to be GPL’d due to compliance, and ask for certification.

If/When it is not certified, we can directly ask the federal government to address the question head-on: “Is the USA federal government really telling us to either violate GPL, or never incorporate GPL’d software into FCC-compliant wireless products?”